Things to Look For in a Potential Roommate

Living with a roommate is one of the best ways to save money on housing or to improve the quality of the housing you can afford. However, it’s no secret that living with others is not always the easiest thing in the world. Everybody has different schedules, habits and pet peeves and even the best of friends don’t always make the best of roommates. If you are deciding upon a potential roommate, here are a few things to consider that should help improve your chances of finding someone you can live well with.

Someone similar enough to you. Know yourself before you start to look for a roommate. If you are a neat freak, it’s probably going to be very difficult to live with someone who is messy unless they can contain messes to their own room. If you want to cut back on every last expense and they are happy to crank the heat and have a premier cable package, you may not be the best fit.

But not too similar! If you have a roommate with a different schedule, it can make it feel like you have the apartment to yourself much of the time, something which is especially nice if you would actually prefer to live alone but can’t quite afford it. Having different schedules also makes things like sharing a bathroom, cooking meals and catching your favorite show on television easier to coordinate.

Someone who is easygoing. You are probably going to have conflicts with your roommate no matter what. However, if you have someone who is pretty easygoing about things in general, it may help diffuse disagreements and prevent them from spiraling into something bigger. This is easier said than done in terms of finding someone who fits the bill but if your roommate always leaves the dishes in the sink and that drives you crazy, at least addressing it with someone who is relaxed about situations makes the conversation easier to have.